One of the coolest things about my 4-year-old nephew, which I suppose is something that applies to all children, is his unwavering devotion to the things he loves. Namely, Cars 2 and Thomas the Tank Engine.

Especially Thomas, though. The engines that work and reside at the Island of Sodor are like crack to the kid. He simply can’t get enough.

He owns all of the trains and plays with them constantly, setting up their wooden tracks, but often going “off-road” with them all throughout the living room. There are many, many engines that reside in the Thomas the Tank Engine universe, and as such, he has many, many toys.

They are thirty-dollar pieces of wood with wheels on the bottom and a face painted on the front to complete the anthropomorphic process. Aside from the fact that some are painted different colors, they all look exactly the same. The only way to tell them apart is by turning them over to read the name of the train, which is written on the underside.

I remember standing on the deck of my parents’ beach house where I was living at the time, staring off into the distance. The only thing I wanted was to get a better job. One where I earned decent money. One where I could move closer to home, closer to my nephew and niece who were still growing inside each of my sisters’ bellies. One where I could legitimately start my life as a working man, back on the grid.

I got everything I wished for. And more.

A new nephew, a new niece, godfather to both. A new job, a new location. New furniture, some new friends.

I love many different kinds of music. You name it and I will probably listen to it (with the exception of country and hardcore/screaming music).

But I don’t really listen to the radio or Pandora. Mostly due to the fear of that Gotye song coming on. But also because I like to discover completely new music.

So I’ll usually just go on YouTube adventures, wherein one new song leads me to another new song and so on and so forth. In this manner, I could start listening to techno and end up listening to classical a few hours later.

They cut my days down to three or four days a week at work, so I figured that playing once or twice a week would be a good way to make up for the lost days.

The first time I played, I made just over $500 in four hours. Though it is a small sample size, it is a decent hourly. But I was a bit upset with my performance, because I could have won more. It has been 15 months since I quit playing professionally, and I have lost almost all of my killer instinct.

I went to the Cloud Atlas midnight premiere two weeks ago, and then immediately came home and blogged about the movie, like a true nerd. Then I promised to tell you about the premiere itself, but forgot, like a true asshole.